Old recipes are old friends, so there's a reason Grandma’s noodles or Aunt Martha’s pecan pie will always have an honorary place at the holiday table. “When you tap into those old recipes, those warm memories just start coming back,” says Lindsey Skeen of Indiana Foodways Alliance.

That's why we're saying no to trendy Collard Leaf Salad and Quinoa Stuffing this year. Instead, we're sticking to true-blue-Hoosier, retro recipes, the kind that would feel right at home on your Mid-Century Modern-inspired, reclaimed wood table.

Instead of impressing our friends and family with Upside-Down Turkey, we're serving Apple Cider-Glazed Pork Loin and Indiana Corn Pudding. We took inspiration from a 1968 dinner served in Washington D.C., to members of the Indiana Society of Washington. The Hoosier menu was based on Indiana products, and presented at a party in what was then the new Senate Office Building.

2 cups apple cider
2 tablespoons cornstarch mixed with a little cider
1 tablespoon brown sugar
Dash of cinnamon
Bring cider to a boil. Mix cornstarch with cider to make a slurry and stir into hot cider and cook until clear. Add cinnamon and brown sugar.
Baste the loin before, during and after baking. (Reserve some to pour over loin while serving.)

The original recipe for this corn pudding called for canned corn. But if you're a planner and loaded your freezer with prepared Indiana corn from the summer, you'll find the taste is far superior.

Combine ingredients. Pour into a 1 1/2-quart casserole. Set in a shallow pan. Fill pan with 1 inch of hot water. Bake 40 minutes at 350 degrees or until knife inserted comes out clean. Let stand for 10 minutes.

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The former Durbin Hotel in Rushville was synonymous with sugar cream pie. The nutmeg-dusted custard pie was adopted as IndianaÕs official state pie, Tuesday, Nov. 14, 2017. (Photo: Michelle Pemberton/IndyStar)

Sugar cream pie was created in the early 1800s by North Carolina Quakers who settled along the Eastern border of Indiana. It was also known as “Hoosier Pie” or “Desperation Pie” (when fruit wasn’t available or money was tight and you really wanted a piece of pie). The nutmeg-dusted custard pie was adopted as Indiana’s official state pie by a 2009 Indiana Senate resolution.

The Durbin Hotel in Rushville was synonymous with sugar cream pie. The quaint family-owned hotel founded in 1926 by Leo and Mary Durbin also served as Wendell L. Willkie’s 1940 presidential campaign headquarters. The hotel closed on Christmas Eve 1979.

Pour into baked shells and sprinkle with nutmeg and a few dots of the reserved butter. Bake at 350 degrees until lightly browned, about 15 minutes.

If the legendary fried biscuit wasn’t invented at Brown County’s Nashville House, it was most certainly perfected there. The golden yeasty rolls should also be slathered in apple butter to appreciate their true goodness. The rustic charm of the Nashville House gives it the appearance that it’s been there since the pioneer days, but the original inn, built in 1867 for travelers, was destroyed by fire in 1943. The Nashville House was rebuilt in 1947 but continued with the woodsy rustic theme of Brown County.